Dispensing containers



Feb. 21, 1967 c. N. TEBBUTT 3,305,145

DISPENSING CONTAINERS Filed March 4, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 fig-L y 76mm, MMZE M 31%;;

lnverilor Feb. 21, 1967 c. N. TEBBUTT DISPENSING CONTAINERS 5Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 4, 1965 Feb. 21, 1967 c. N. TEBBUTT 3,305,145

DISPENSING CONTAINERS Filed March 4, 1965 3 ShGQtE-Sheit 3 Inventor I['lrarZes Norm/Y 78b flu it.

United States Patent 3,305,145 DISPENSING CONTAINERS Charles NormanTebbutt, Southall, Middlesex, England, assignor to The Metal Box CompanyLimited, London, England, a British company Filed Mar. 4, 1965, Ser. No.437,155 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Mar. 11, 1964,10,353/ 64 7 Claims. (Cl. 222-522) This invention relates to dispensingcontainers particularly for tablets, pills or similar items.

According to the invention there is provided a dispensing containercomprising an open-topped container body and a cap slidable axiallyrelative to the container and constrained for axial movement between abody closing and a product dispensing position thereof, the capincluding a skirt provided with a dispensing opening which is obturatedby the container body when the cap is in the body closing positionthereof and is exposed when the cap is in the product dispensingposition thereof.

The body closing position of the cap may be determined by cooperation ofthe crown of the cap with the mouth rim of the container body and theproduct dispensing position be determined by at least one projectionextending laterally from the skirt and engageable with an abutmentformed on the container body. The projection may be formed on theinterior of the skirt and the abutment be formed by a shoulder extendingoutwards from the container body.

The crown of the cap may be provided with a plug portion arranged toeffect sealing engagement with the open end of the container body whenthe cap is in the body closing position thereof. The open end of thecontainer body may be inturned to form a rim for cooperation with theplug portion of the cap. The projection may comprise an annular rib.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention the body closing positionof the cap may be determined by cooperation of an extension of the crownof the cap which extends beyond the exterior of the skirt and theproduct dispensing position be determined by at least one projectionextending laterally from the skirt and engageable with an abutmentformed on the container body. The projection may extend from theexterior of the skirt and the abutment be formed interiorly of thecontainer. The abutment may be formed by the underside of an inturnedcurl defining the mouth of the container body.

The cap may be made of resilient material and in one embodiment thereofmay be of moulded organic thermoplastic material, for example of lowdensity polyethylene. The container body may be made of extrudedaluminum.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood some embodimentthereof will now be described, by way of example, with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a broken elevation, partly in section, of a dispensingcontatiner according to the invention,

FIGURE 2 is an elevation of the upper part of the container looking inthe direction of arrow II, FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 3 is an elevation, partly in section, of the upper part of thecontatiner with the cap in the dispensing position,

FIGURE 4 to 6 are partial views of alternative embodiments of dispensingcontainers according to the invention,

FIGURE 7 is a broken elevation, partly in section, of a furtheralternative dispensing container according to the invention, and

FIGURE 8 is an elevation of the upper part of the container looking inthe direction of arrow VIII, FIGURE 7.

3,305,145 Patented Feb. 21, 1967 In the drawings like or similar partsare indicated by like reference numerals.

Referring to FIGURES l to 3, the dispensing container comprises anopen-topped body made of any suitable material, for example extrudedaluminum. The body has an upper portion 1 and a lower portion 2connected by a necked portion 3 of lesser cross-section and a cap isfitted over the upper portion 1 to be slidable axially relative to thecontainer and constrained for axial movement between a body closing andproduct dispensing position thereof.

The skirt 4 of the cap is provided with at least one internal projectionengageable with the neck portion 3 to retain the cap in position on thebody. As shown in the drawing the projection is an annular projection 5but if desired a plurality of projections may be spaced apart around theinterior of the skirt. The cap is preferably made of resilient materialand as shown in the drawings the cap is made of moulded organicsynthetic thermoplastic material, for example of low densitypolyethylene. If, however, the cap is made of sheet metal theprojections 5 may be ribs pressed inwards from the skirt or may beformed by inturning the edge of the skirt for example to form aninturned curl.

The crown 6 of the cap covers the open end 7 of the body and theprojection 5 by cooperation with an upper abutment or shoulder 8determines the extent of axial movement of the cap relative to the bodyto the product dispensing position of the cap.

The skirt 4 is provided with a dispensing opening 10. When the cap is inthe body closing position thereof, FIGURE 1, that is with the projection5 adjacent to a lower shoulder 9, the opening 10 is obturated by thesides of the container body. When the cap is moved axially away from thelower shoulder 9 to the product dispensing position thereof the opening10 is exposed, FIGURE 3, to permit the contents of the container to bedispensed through the opening it).

The crown 6 of the cap is provided with a plug portion 11 arranged toeffect sealing engagement with the open end 7 of the container body whenthe projection 5 is adjacent the lower shoulder 9 and the open end ofthe body is provided with an inturned rim 12 for cooperation with theplug portion 11. The plug portion 11 by cooperation 11 by cooperationwith the rim 12 prevents the ingress of dirt and other extraneous matterinto the container.

FIGURES 4 to 6 illustrate alternative embodiments of the dispensingcontainer, the embodiment of FIGURE 4 being similar to that describedabove with reference to FIGURES 1 to 3 except that the neck portion 3and shoulder 9 are omitted and the sides of the body extend downwardsfrom the shoulder abutment 8.

In the embodiments of the container illustrated in FIG- URES 5 and 6 thecap is slidable inside the container body and the body closing positionof the cap is determined by cooperation of an extension 13 of the crown6 of the cap, which extends beyond the exterior of the skirt 4, and therim 12 of the container body. In FIG- URE 5 the product dispensingposition of the cap is determined by engagement of a projection 5 on theexterior of skirt 4 with an internal abutment or shoulder 8 on thecontainer body, and in FIGURE *6 the product dispensing, position of thecap is determined by engagement of a projection 5 on the exterior of theskirt 4 with the under side of an inturned curl 14 which defines themouth of the container body.

In the alternative embodiment of the container illustrated in FIGURES 7and 8 the container body is made of tinplate or aluminum and is providedwith annular processes 8a, 9a which receive the projection 5 and locateand retain the cap in the product dispensing and body closing positionsthesreof respectively. In this embodiment the portion 3a has the samecross-sectional dimension as the lower portion 2. To facilitate theaxial movement of the cap from one recess to the other the head of thecap is provided with a finger-gripping portion 15 which, as shown inFIGURES 7 and 8, consists of an enlargement which tapers from the crown6 to the skirt 4 and is provided with annular grooves 16. The plug 11cooperates with the recessed portion 8421 when the cap is in the bodyclosing position thereof and projection 5 is located in recess 9a.

A dispensing container as herein described consists of only twocomponents, is simple to operate, is economical to produce, has theadvantage that it is not necessary to cut or form a hole in the side ofthe container body, and no orientation of the components is necessaryduring assembly thereof. It will be understood that the shape and sizeof the dispensing opening 10 can be varied, as desired, according to theshape and size of the contents to be dispensed from the container.

I claim:

1. A dispensing container comprising an open-topped container body and acap; the container body including a sidewall portion and an end wallportion and being devoid of a neck of a substantially reducedcross-section as compared to the cross-section of the container body;said cap including an end wall portion and a depending skirt portion;said skirt portion having a dispensing opening therein; said containersidewall portion including at least first means dsposed about theperiphery thereof for engaging a cooperating second mean-s on said capskirt portion and constraining said cap in axial movement adjacentcontainer body sidewalls between a body closing and a product dispensingposition thereof wherein the body closing and product dispensingpositions of the cap are determined by said first and second means;which means include a projection extending laterally from the interiorof the cap and annular recesses formed in the container body to locateand retain the cap in said positions thereof.

2. A dispensing container according to claim 1, wherein the cap isprovided with an enlarged head portion adapted to facilitate movement ofthe cap between said positions thereof.

3. A dispensing container according to claim 2, wherein said enlargedportion tapers from the crown to the skirt of the cap and is providedwith annular grooves.

4. A dispensing container according to claim 1, wherein the crown of thecap is provided with a plug portion arranged to eifect sealingengagement with open end of the the container body when the cap is inthe body closing position thereof.

5. A dispensing container according to claim 1 wherein the cap is madeof resilient material.

6. A dispensing container according to claim 5, wherein the cap is madeof moulded organic synthetic thermoplastic material, for example of lowdensity polyethylene.

7. A dispensing container according to claim 1 wherein the containerbody is made of extruded aluminum.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 120,339 10/ 1871Spencer 222-522 2,463,152 3/ 1949 Clark 222-525 X 2,597,165 5/1952Minturn. 2,623,664 12/ 1952 Henchert et al. 222-525 2,631,763 3/1953Sutton 222-522 X 2,772,037 11/1956 Rieke 222-522 X 2,877,918 3/1959Gardner 222-522 2,921,716 1/1960 Schiller 222-92 2,936,935 5/1960 Rabb222-525 3,220,657 11/1965 Nyden 222-522 X 3,223,117 12/1965 Curie et a1.222-522 X FOREIGN PATENTS 899,473 12/1953 Germany.

ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner.

STANLEY H. TGLLBERG, ROBERT B. REEVES,

Examiners.

1. A DISPENSING CONTAINER COMPRISING AN OPEN-TOPPED CONTAINER BODY AND ACAP; THE CONTAINER BODY INCLUDING A SIDEWALL PORTION AND AN END WALLPORTION AND BEING DEVOID OF A NECK OF A SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCEDCROSS-SECTION AS COMPARED TO THE CROSS-SECTION OF THE CONTAINER BODY;SAID CAP INCLUDING AN END WALL PORTION AND A DEPENDING SKIRT PORTION;SAID SKIRT PORTION HAVING A DISPENSING OPENING THEREIN; SAID CONTAINERSIDEWALL PORTION INCLUDING AT LEAST FIRST MEANS DISPOSED ABOUT THEPERIPHERY THEREOF FOR ENGAGING A COOPERATING SECOND MEANS ON SAID CAPSKIRT PORTION AND CONSTRAINING SAID CAP IN AXIAL MOVEMENT ADJACENTCONTAINER BODY SIDEWALLS BETWEEN A BODY CLOSING AND A PRODUCT DISPENSINGPOSITION THEREOF WHEREIN THE BODY CLOSING AND PRODUCT DISPENSINGPOSITIONS OF THE CAP ARE DETERMINED BY SAID FIRST AND SECOND MEANS;WHICH MEANS INCLUDE A PROJECTION EXTENDING LATERALLY FROM THE INTERIOROF THE CAP AND ANNULAR RECESSES FORMED IN THE CONTAINER BODY TO LOCATEAND RETAIN THE CAP IN SAID POSITIONS THEREOF.